Fiber can body



A. G. HATCH FIBER CAN BODY May 23, 1939.

Filed Aug. 24, 1957 gmc/who@ ALEXANDER G HTGH Patented May 23, 1939FIBER CAN BODY l Alexander' G. Hatch, Rutland, Vt., assigner to FibreCan Machinery Corporation, Rutland, Vt.,

a corporation of Vermont Application August 24, 1937, Serial No. 160,618

l l 1 Claim. The present invention relates to improvements in theconstruction of fiber can bodies designed to 5 glass or metal.

jections and disadvantages, among which mayl bev mentioned theadditional cost due to waste of material used, the dimculty of cheaplymanufactoring them, .their undue weight which increases handling andShipping charges, and their inefliciency in protecting the contents of.the cans. For example, there are now on the market can bodies formed bypasting together a strip of coarse cardboard or relatively heavy cheappaper and a relatively thinner strip of impervious ma terial, andconvolutely winding the laminated or composite sheet into tubular formwith the ad- 1 jacent convolutions adhering to one another. A

can body, so formed, is relatively expensive because the impervioussheet (which is considerably more costly per unit area than the coarsecardboard sheet) extends throughout all the convolu' tions of the bodyand, therefore, is ,of relatively large area. Also, with thatarrangement, the can body is not impervious to gases or liquids, for thereason that the sheet of coarse ilbrous material presents a raw,uncovered edge at the inside surface of the can, thus permitting thissheet to act as a' wick. With that arrangement,l

if the material within the can contains any liquid 40 or moisture,l theliquid or moisture, due to capillary action, will'work its way throughthe can body following the convolutions of thecoarse material, and ifthe can contains hydroscopic material, moisture will work` from theoutside Vto the inside'of the lcan.

It has also been proposed to make a can body by forming an outside bodyor container of rela-7 tively heavy coarse paper or cardboard wound intoa series of convolutions; forming a separate inside impervious containeror lining, and slipping the inside container into, and expanding it into,contact with, the outside one, but a can of that nature requires thatthe inside container be of sulcient weight or thickness to beself-supporting, which means that an inside lining of extreme thinnesscannot be employed and,- therefore, the weight of the completed canbodyis unduly increased. Also, diiliculty is experienced inconformingthe lining, andv adhering it, to the inside surface `of the outer body.

The aim of the vpresent invention is to provide an improved fiber canbody construction wherein the above and other disadvantages andobjecttions to fiber can bodies, as heretofore made, are

substantially eliminated.

More particularly, the aim ofthe invention is to provide a. fiber canbody which is highly enicient with respect to imperviousness to passageof liquids and gases therethrough; which, While being relatively strongand durable, is light in' weight; and which, considering its eiciencyand strength, is relatively easy and cheap to manufacture.

My invention consists in a fiber can body having an inner container orlining composed of a sheet oi thin, ilimsy material with imperviouscharacteristics and 'shaped to form a tube of suitable cross sectionwith an overlap at one side and which overlap is pasted so asto form aseal; and an outer container or body formed offa stili sheet ofcardboard, heavy coarse paper, or similar fibrous material convolutelyWound about the inner container or lining; the outer surface of thelining and the inner surface of the outer container being glued togetherthroughout substantially the entire exterior area of the lining. Bypreference, in forming the can, glue is applied to the outer surface ofthe sheet forming. the lining and to the outer surface of the sheet orstrip from which the outer container is formed so that, in Winding thislatter strip about the lining, the inside surface of the tube willadhere to the lining, and the several convolutions of thel tube willclosely adhere to one another. The lining, as stated, is made ofextremely thin material and, in fact, so thin that, if moistened, it isnot self-sustaining. 'I'he lining may be formed, for example, of verythin metal foil or thin sheets of cellulose derivatives, such asCellophane or glassine. The material of which the lining is composedwill depend, of course, upon the character of the food, oils, orothermaterial to be placed in the can, and the imperviousness of thelining will also depend in character and. `degree upon thecharacteristics of the material to be placed in the can.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a can body constructed in accordancewith the present invention, portions being broken away to more clearlyillustrate the disclosure;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view through the can body; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view therethrough.

In the drawing, the relative thickness of the can body layers orconvolutions is somewhat exaggerated for greater clearness ofdisclosure, and this is particularly true of the lining which, asstated, should be extremely thin. Also, the can body is shown as beinggenerally rectangular in cross section, but it is understood that thisis by way of example only as it is obvious it may be square, round, orof any other suitable shape and, for purposes of terminology andclaiming, the terms tube or tubular are. employed to generically coverthe various forms which the can body may take.

In the drawing, A vdesignates the outer container or body, and Bdesignates the lining or inner container. The inner container or liningB is composed .of a material of the character above described andpreferably comprises a single ply which may be shaped about a mandrel toform a tube having at one side an overlap lll. The outer surface of thelining sheet has an application of glue over its entire area so that theopposed surfaces of the overlap will adhere and form an overlappedfluid-tight seam, and the outer surface of the lining will adhere to theinner wall of the outer container when the latter is formed therearound.The glued surfaces are indicated by stippling. The outer body orcontainer A, which is composed of cardboard, heavy coarse paper, orother brous material, has glue applied to its outer surface and is woundconvolutely about the lining while the latter is supported on theforming mandrel so that the inner surface of the innermost convolutionof the outer body will adhere to the outer surface of the liningthroughout the entire area of the latter, and the.

several convolutions of the outer body will adhere to one another. 'I'heouter glued surface of y, the outer body is adapted to receive a label,not

shown. It is, of course, understood that the ends of the can body willbe provided with suitablev huid-tight closures, but as such closures maybe of any well-known sort and form no part of the present invention,they are not disclosed in the drawing.

It will be observed, from the foregoing description taken. in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, lthat I provide a fiber can tainer formsa continuous, unbroken wall wholly within the outer container andclosely adhering theretog so that it forms an effective seal forpreventing moisture, etc., from passing through the can wall either fromthe outside in or from. the inside out. The uter container may bereadily formed about the lining and, as the lining forms an effectiveseal, the material of the outer container may be composed of relativelycheap, coarse material. y

I claim as my invention:

A fiber can body impervious to fluids, comprising an inner lining and anouter supporting body, said inner lining being a single sheet of thinmaterial impervious to selected fluids and convolutely wound to providean overlap with the outer face of the overlying material of the overlapadhesively secured to the inner face of the underlying material of theoverlap to provide Within the outer body a continuous unbroken Walloverlapping itself in opposite directions, the outer supporting bodybeing composed of a single sheet of coarse fibrous material convolutelywound around the inner lining and around itself into a series ofcontacting coils, and a continuous layer of adhesive interposed betweenthe lining and the outer body and between the convolutions of the outerbody and extending from the longitudinal edge of the lining material tothe outermost longitudinal edge of the body and bonding said lining andbody material into a substantially rigidl one-piece body structure.

ALEXANDER G. HATCH.

